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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
TUESDAY, JUNE 8, 1993

AT
(202) 514-2007
TDD (202) 514-1888

NEW JERSEY COMPANY CHARGED WITH STEEL DRUM
PRICE FIXING AND OBSTRUCTION OF JUSTICE

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Department of -Justice today filed a three-count
felony information charging Russell-Stanley Corporation, of Red Bank,
New Jersey, with conspiring to fix prices of new steel drums offered
for sale to customers in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States.
Steel drums are used most frequently for packaging chemical and petroleum
products.

The steel drums were offered for sale in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont,
Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, eastern New York, eastern
Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware, Virginia and the District
of Columbia, defined in the information as "the Eastern Region."

Count one of the information, filed in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania, charges that Russell-Stanley conspired with others, in
violation of Section 1 of the Sherman Act, to fix prices of new steel
drums beginning sometime prior to April 1, 1986, and continuing at least
through March 1990.

Count two of the information charges Russell-Stanley with mail fraud,
in violation of Title 18, U.S. Code, Section 1341, in connection with
the fraudulent price-fixing scheme.

Count three of the information charges that Russell-Stanley obstructed
justice, in violation of Title 18, U.S. Code, Section 1503, by withholding
and destroying documents called for by a subpoena issued by a District
of Columbia grand jury investigating the metal container industry.

John Clark, Acting Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Antitrust
Division, said the charges resulted from grand jury investigations in
Washington, D.C., Chicago, Illinois, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,
into price fixing in the metal container industry.

The investigations are being conducted by the Antitrust Division's
Litigation I Section in Washington D.C., with the assistance of the
Federal Bureau of Investigation, and are continuing.

The maximum penalty for a corporation convicted under the Sherman Act
for a violation occurring prior to November 16, 1990, is a fine that
is the greatest of $1 million, twice the pecuniary gain the corporation
derived from the crime, or twice the pecuniary loss caused to the victims
of the crime.

The maximum penalty for a corporation convicted under the mail fraud
statute is a fine that is the greatest of $500,000, twice the pecuniary
gain the corporation derived from the crime, or twice the pecuniary
loss caused to the victims of the crime.

The maximum penalty for a corporation convicted under the obstruction
of justice statute is a fine that is the greatest of $500,000, twice
the pecuniary gain the corporation derived from the crime, or twice
the pecuniary loss caused to the victims of the crime.